The Complete SEO Checklist

Following an SEO checklist makes it easier to keep track of what you need to do to boost your site’s performance.

This complete SEO checklist covers all SEO aspects: including technical SEO, on-page SEO, and keyword research.

It works for blogs, Shopify sites, local businesses, affiliate sites, and pretty much any other type of website you can think of.

But first, let’s talk about how to get the most out of it.

How to Use This SEO Checklist

We’ve used this exact checklist to grow our organic traffic by 189.12% in 30 days:

It’s also helped us rank for SUPER competitive keywords, like “on page SEO”:

And “link building tools”:

That said…

You don’t need to implement everything on this checklist.

Just work through the checks that are most relevant/important for your site.

How do you know which ones are most important?

Here are a few quick things to consider:

• If you don’t know where to start with optimizing your site, the SEO basics, keyword research, and on-page SEO checklists are best
• If you have lots of content, but aren’t getting much traffic, check out the content checklists first
• If your site seems to suffer from slow loading speed and other complex issues, focus on the technical SEO checklist
• If you have a fair bit of experience but just want more organic traffic, go through the link building checklist and advanced tips and tactics

Let’s start with some SEO basics.

SEO Basics Checklist

Use these tools and techniques to set your site up for SEO success.

1. Set Up Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) is a VERY powerful free SEO tool.

Search Console is designed to help you track your site’s performance in Google search.

It’s packed with useful features that let you:

• See which keywords bring you the most traffic
• Submit your sitemap
• Fix website errors
• See your Core Web Vitals scores (more on them later)

In short: if you’re serious about SEO, setting up GSC is a key first step. Learn how to do it in our guide to Google Search Console.

2. Install Bing Webmaster Tools

Next, set up Bing Webmaster Tools (BWT).

Is Bing as popular as Google? No.

But Bing has more than 100 million daily active users. So it’s worth optimizing for.

And in SEO, data matters A LOT.

If BWT can provide you with even more useful data, it just makes sense to use it.

3. Set Up Google Analytics

Google Analytics is one of the BEST ways to see how people find (and use) your site.

Google Analytics lets you:

• See how much traffic you get from Google
• Find the pages on your site that bring you the most traffic
• See if your traffic is increasing or decreasing (and by how much)
• Identify other sites and search engines that send you traffic
• Understand your average engagement rate, page views, and time on site

If you haven’t used the tool before, check out our guide to Google Analytics.

4. Install Yoast SEO (WordPress and Shopify)

Yoast is the most popular SEO plugin on the planet.

And for good reason.

Yoast makes it super easy to optimize your WordPress site for search engines. And you can use it on Shopify too.

It also helps you with technical SEO stuff, like robots.txt and sitemaps. Making it super versatile.

And ideal for beginners that need an all-in-one SEO solution.

5. Identify Your Project’s KPIs

Along with getting the right tools in place, you need to understand what you want to achieve with your SEO efforts.

Here are some common key performance indicators (KPIs) to consider:

• Organic traffic: Driving more traffic to your website from search results can lead to more engagement with your brand. And more sales for your business.
• Brand awareness: Enhanced visibility in search results can boost your brand awareness. Building trust with potential customers.
• Backlink growth: Getting more high-quality backlinks can improve your site’s authority. And help you rank higher in search results, in turn driving more traffic to your website.
• Keyword rankings: Monitoring where your pages rank for target keywords helps you quickly adapt to drops. And capitalize on gains.

But you can also get even more granular by monitoring elements like bounce rate and page load time.

And, of course, tracking sales is a vital KPI for businesses as well. Helping you match up your SEO efforts with direct results for your business.

Understanding what you plan to achieve through SEO makes it much easier to track your results.

6. Set Up Rank Tracking

If one of your KPIs for measuring your SEO success is keyword rankings (which it probably should be), you’ll need to set up a rank tracker.

There are lots of rank tracking tools to choose from. And there are even options for local businesses.

Like Semrush’s Map Rank Tracker. Which lets you keep track of your local business’s rankings down to the street level.

Tracking your rankings in search results can help you understand if the rest of your SEO efforts are working.

7. Get a Free Semrush Account

One of the first tools you need in your SEO arsenal is Semrush. Even the free version can provide a ton of value.

Here’s why:

You Can Spy on Your Competitors

First off, a free Semrush account lets you peek into your competitors’ SEO strategies.

Analyze their top keywords, backlinks, and organic performance. Find out what’s working for them and use that intel to boost your own strategy.

It Helps You Fix Your Site’s Issues

Secondly, you can run site audits to catch and fix technical SEO problems like broken links and slow page speeds.

The free account allows you to crawl up to 100 pages, ensuring your site is optimized for search engines and users alike.

Backlink Analysis Tool

Lastly, the Backlink Analytics Tool is a game-changer.

With a free Semrush account, you can analyze your backlinks to understand your site’s authority and identify bad links that could harm your rankings.

Even at the free level, Semrush equips you with essential tools for getting started with SEO. Once you see the value, you can always upgrade to unlock even more features.

Keyword Research Checklist

Keyword Research is the foundation of SEO. And in this checklist we’ll show you how to quickly find relevant keywords that your potential customers search for.

8. Identify Your Target Market

Before you can find the right keywords to target, you need to understand who is searching for them. And what they are looking to learn/gain from the content they find (also known as the search intent).

Consider:

• Who your ideal customer is: What does the customer profile look like of someone buying your product or service? What language do they use and what kind of content do they consume?
• What their pain points are: What problems are they facing? How can you help solve those issues?
• What platforms they hang out on: Are they searching for things related to what you sell? Or are they more likely to be active on social media?
• What they search for: If they are actively searching for your kinds of products/services/content, what terms do they use?

The next steps will show you how to find these terms.

9. Discover Long Tail Keywords with “Google Suggest”

This is one of the easiest ways to uncover long tail keywords.

Here’s how it works:

First, type a keyword into Google.

But don’t press enter, or the “Google Search” button. Instead, check out the keywords that Google shows you:

(These are known as “Google Suggest” keywords.)

Because these keywords come straight from Google, you KNOW that people, some of whom might be your target audience, are searching for them.

This means that they make valuable keywords to optimize your site around.

10. Find Keywords with the Backlinko Keyword Tool

Keyword research tools are another useful way to find terms to target with your content. And Backlinko’s free keyword research tool is an excellent place to start.

Just pop a broad term related to your business into the tool. And you’ll get a bunch of related keywords to use for creating content.

Complete with metrics like search volume and cost per click.

11. Tap Into Online Communities

Reddit, Quora, forums and other online communities are excellent places to find keywords.

They’re full of real people with real problems. Problems you can solve with your products, services, or content.

How do you find keywords using these communities?

You could just browse relevant sub-communities for ideas.

But a targeted approach is to use search operators on a platform like Reddit. These are terms you add to the search bar to narrow down your search.

Focus on “problem” related search terms:

• “How to”
• “I wish”
• “Where can I”

They can highlight ideas right in the search results for content you could create to help solve those pain points.

And clicking into the discussions could give you even more ideas. As people in the comments may discuss their own related problems too.

12. Identify Low Competition Keywords with Semrush

Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool is a freemium keyword research tool. (You can run up to 10 searches per day with a free account.)

And with each search, you get tons of data on each keyword.

As you can see, when you type a keyword into Semrush, you get information on:

• Search volume
• Keyword difficulty
• CPC
• Trends
• SERP features

And more.

That way, you can choose low-competition keywords that are easy to rank for. And you can understand which keywords are likely to yield the best results for your website.

13. Find Question Keywords

Question keywords are PERFECT for blog posts and articles.

For example: “How do you make cold brew coffee?”

And you can easily find them with Answer The Public.

This freemium tool shows you questions that people search for online.

That way, you can answer these questions with your content.

You can also use the Keyword Magic Tool from Semrush to find question keywords. As the tool has a specific filter for questions.

14. Conduct a Topical Authority Analysis

Topical authority is a measure of how authoritative your website is about a specific topic.

In other words: how much should people (and Google) trust you as a reliable source of information about that subject?

You can quickly analyze your site’s topical authority with this handy spreadsheet.

It lets you analyze Google Search Console keyword data to see what topics you’re already ranking for. And to identify related topics where you lack coverage. (i.e., opportunities where you could rank higher and get more traffic.)

This helps you spot gaps in your content and find opportunities to expand your topical authority.

On-Page SEO Checklist

Now it’s time to optimize your content using a handful of tested on-page SEO techniques.

15. Include Your Keyword in Your URL

Your URL helps Google understand what your page is all about. Plus, a keyword-rich URL can improve your organic CTR.

That’s why you want to include your keyword in your URL.

For example, the target keyword for this page is “SEO checklist.”

So we made the URL: backlinko.com/seo-checklist.

Simple.

16. Use Short URLs

Keep your URLs as short as possible.

Why?

Our analysis of 11.8 million Google search results found that short URLs rank best in Google.

17. Front-Load Your Keyword in Your Title Tag

It’s no secret that you should use your keyword in your title tag.

But not as many people know that WHERE you put your keyword matters.

Specifically, you want to put your keyword at the front of your title tag whenever possible.

For example, the main keyword for this post is “copywriting”:

As you can see, the title tag starts off with that keyword:

18. Embed Title Tag Modifiers

Title tag modifiers are words and phrases to add to your title tag. To make it more appealing to searchers.

Like:

• Best
• Top
• Checklist
• Definitive guide
• [current year]
• Full review

When you add these, you can stand out from others in the search results. And show searchers why your content is the right page for them.

19. Use Your Keyword within the First 150 Words

Putting your keyword at the start of your post makes sense. Because you want search engines and users to quickly understand what the content is about.

This is useful from an SEO perspective. But it also reassures users they’re in the right place.

So that they keep reading.

For example, for our SEO tools post, you can see that we use the term “SEO Tools” right off the bat:

20. Use Your Target Keyword in H1, H2 or H3 Tags

Make sure to include your keyword in H1, H2 or H3 tags.

For example:

You might have noticed that we included the term “SEO Checklist” in the first subheader on this page:

Well, that subheader is wrapped in an H2 tag. And including “SEO Checklist” in an H2 can help us rank higher for that keyword.

As it helps Google (and users) understand what our content is about. And what search terms it might be relevant to.

21. Optimize Your Images

The images you use say a lot about your content.

Unfortunately, Google still can’t “see” images as a human can.

So to help Google understand your images, you want to optimize your image alt tags and filenames.

(As a bonus: optimized images also help you rank in image search.)

Here’s how:

First, when you save the image, use a filename that briefly describes what that image is.

For example, let’s say you just took a picture of a spinach omelette with your phone.

Well, you’d want to name that image something like: spinach_omelette.png

Then, when you add the image to your page, give it a descriptive alt tag:

22. Use Synonyms and LSI Keywords

Instead of using the same keyword over and over again (which could be seen as keyword stuffing), use synonyms and LSI keywords.

For example, let’s say you want to rank for “how to start a blog.”

Well, you’d want to mention that exact keyword a few times on your page. Along with synonyms like:

• How to launch a blog
• Starting a blog
• How to create a blog
• How to setup a blog on WordPress

You get the idea.

Next, add some LSI keywords.

LSI keywords are terms that go along with your main keyword. Words you’d expect to use when talking about your target keyword.

Like:

• Writing
• Website
• Content creation

These aren’t likely to improve your rankings on their own. But they can help make it easier for Google to understand what your content is about.

23. Use External Links

Link out to relevant, authoritative sources throughout your content. Such as when you quote a statistic.

Or when you’re using a term you don’t have your own article on already, but you want to provide a useful resource for your readers.

For example, in this list of SEO techniques, we link to trusted websites like Wikipedia and Google.com:

And those links show Google that our content is well-referenced and trustworthy.

It won’t necessarily improve your rankings. But it can help provide a better user experience.

24. Use Internal Links

This is super simple:

Whenever you publish a new piece of content, try and link to 2-5 other (relevant) pages on your site.

For example, note how we use the anchor text “on-page SEO” in this internal link:

This tells search engines and users that the page we’re linking to is about on-page SEO.

Giving Google helpful context. And telling the reader where the linked page will take them.

Content Checklist

There’s no denying it: if you want to rank in Google, you need to publish high-quality content.

That’s why content is now a BIG part of any modern-day SEO strategy. And in this section we’ll show you the exact steps to creating the type of content that ranks well.

25. Chunk Your Content to Maximize Readability

No one likes reading giant walls of text:

That’s why we ALWAYS break our content into easy-to-read chunks, like this:

These chunks keep our bounce rate low. And keep our readers on our pages for longer.

So that they can get maximum value from our content.

26. Focus on Content Formats That Are Working Right Now

What’s trending in the world of content (like in any industry) is always changing.

Staying on top of what’s working right now is your best chance at creating content people actually want to consume.

For example, with the rise of AI writing tools leading to a lot of low-quality content out there, it’s clear that people value:

• Content written by experts
• Original research (like surveys and industry studies)
• Content that isn’t just regurgitated information
• Case studies and real life examples
• Evergreen content that provides value for YEARS

An example that fits a few of these points is our giant list of SEO tools:

We personally tested and reviewed 41 tools. It was an insane amount of work.

But it was totally worth it.

Why?

To date, this post has generated over 11 thousand backlinks.

27. Think about Information Gain

Covering a topic in depth is no longer enough to sustainably rank well on Google. You can’t just toss together a piece made up of the top-ranking posts’ H2s and call it good.

You need to add value beyond what the current search results contain.

Otherwise:

Why should Google rank your content? And why should readers trust your content over everyone else’s?

This is the concept of information gain.

For example, a while ago we published this video SEO guide on our site:

We could have published a generic piece of content like “25 Tips for Video SEO” and covered every tip already on the SERP.

Instead, we created a guide that covered everything about that topic.

AND contained insights from Brian Dean’s own experience creating a successful YouTube channel.

Something other articles weren’t able to do.

And that’s a key reason that it still ranks in the top 3 in Google for our primary keyword:

28. Use Multimedia

You might notice that this post contains LOTS of images.

We do this for two main reasons:

First, it just makes for better content. Visuals can enhance what you write about.

Second, images and other forms of multimedia can help content rank better.

So we recommend using these forms of multimedia in your content where you can:

• Images
• Charts
• Infographics
• Visual Content
• Videos
• Interactive polls and quizzes

Technical SEO Checklist

Technical SEO can make or break your rankings. Fortunately, fixing technical SEO problems isn’t that hard. Especially if you follow the items on this checklist.

29. Identify Crawling and Indexing Errors

A crawl error means that Google and its search engine bots are having trouble viewing a page on your site.

And if it can’t view your page, it’s not gonna rank for anything.

Indexing errors mean Google can find your content. But it’s not indexing it for some reason.

Which still means no ranking.

You can easily find these errors in Google Search Console’s “Indexing” report:

If you notice Google is having trouble accessing one of your important webpages (for example, robots.txt is blocking search engine crawlers), you’ll want to fix that ASAP.

30. Find Out How Google Views Your Pages

Sometimes users can see everything on your page…

…but Google can’t.

Again:

If Google can’t fully access your page, it won’t rank.

That’s why we recommend using Google Search Console’s “Inspect URL” feature.

Just enter a page from your site at the top of GSC.

When you do, you’ll see your page from Google’s point of view:

If you see issues like indexing not allowed or different canonical URLs, you have some problems to solve.

31. Make Sure Your Site Is Mobile-Friendly

Google officially uses mobile-first indexing.

Which means:

If your site isn’t mobile optimized, it’s not going to rank very well.

Here are a few ways to ensure your site is mobile-friendly:

• Use responsive design practices: Ensure everything works properly on mobile devices, from buttons to menus
• Use short sentences and paragraphs: These are great for readability in general, but especially on mobile
• Avoid intrusive popups: Just don’t use them

32. Fix Broken Links

Broken links are not good for your SEO. Or your user experience.

So you definitely want to find any broken links on your site. And fix them.

The easiest way to do that? DrLinkCheck.com.

It’s a free tool that scans your site for broken links:

33. Secure Your Site with HTTPS

HTTPS has long been a confirmed Google ranking signal.

So if you haven’t already, it’s time to move your site to HTTPS.

(Or if you just launched a new site, set it up with HTTPS on day 1.)

That’s it for this check. It’s that simple.

34. Check Your Site’s Loading Speed (Core Web Vitals)

Does your site load fast?

It should. Because page speed is a Google ranking factor.

To check your site’s loading speed, head over to PageSpeed Insights.

This free tool lets you know how quickly your site loads for desktop and mobile users. And whether you’re passing each of the Core Web Vitals:

It even lets you know what you can do to speed things up.

35. Use Schema Markup

Schema markup (or structured data) helps search engines understand your content better. And it can help you land rich snippets in search results. Like these star ratings and recipe time:

That said, implementing schema can be tricky.

That’s why we recommend using structured data testing tools.

It makes using schema MUCH easier than trying to do it all manually.

Check out our full schema markup guide for more information.

Link Building Checklist

When it comes to SEO, link building is KEY. They have long been used in Google’s ranking systems as a way of understanding website quality and as a measure of authority.

Unfortunately, building links isn’t easy. But if you want to rank in Google, links are a must. And in this section we’ll show you how to do it.

36. Contribute Expert Quotes to Media Outlets

Media outlets (from newspapers to blogs) are always looking for sources for stories they’re publishing.

If you’re a subject matter expert, you can be a source for those stories. And in return, you can get a link to your website.

There are various platforms, like Connectively (formerly HARO) and Help a B2B Writer, that aim to connect writers with sources.

But you can also run searches like “#journorequest” along with your niche on social media to find potential opportunities.

37. Create Linkable Assets for Journalists (Digital PR)

In a similar vein to becoming a source for a journalist’s article, you can also create content directly for journalists. Or for them to hopefully pick up in their own stories.

This is often called digital PR, and one method is to create linkable assets (or link bait).

These are pieces of content that are super easy to link to. Either because they reveal interesting data, contain original insights and reports, or are otherwise entertaining.

And they’re excellent ways to get backlinks.

Our list of Google ranking factors is a great example of link bait. As it’s a massive piece of original research covering a hot topic.

And according to Semrush, it has earned more than 26K backlinks from 6.7K referring domains.

38. Reverse Engineer Your Competitors’ Backlinks

Why reinvent the wheel when you can copy your competitor’s link sources?

To do this, you’ll need a link analysis tool.

Like Semrush’s Backlink Analytics.

You simply need to:

1. Grab your competitor’s URL
2. Pop it into the tool
3. Get as many of their links as you can

For example, here’s a link report from Semrush of our site:

Now:

Some of these links will be nearly impossible to replicate.

(For example, links from sites we have relationships with.)

But many are pretty easy to copy (or at least take inspiration from).

Like links your competitors have in roundup posts. Or from podcast appearances.

On that note…

39. Become a Podcast Guest

This is a bit like guest posting. But instead of contributing an article, you go on a podcast as a guest.

For example, Brian went on this podcast a few years ago:

As you can see, we got a backlink (and a handful of targeted visitors).

So, consider which podcasts in your industry you could appear on as a guest. And maybe pick up some backlinks along the way.

40. Mention Influencers In Your Blog Posts

This process couldn’t be simpler:

First, mention influential bloggers in your content.

Then, let them know you mentioned them.

(Seriously, that’s it.)

For example, when we published our list of SEO tools, we let the founder of each tool know that we featured them:

And, as you can see, they happily shared our content on social media.

It’s not always easy to directly connect with influencers in your space.

But it can be a great way to get them to share your content with their audience. And hopefully link back to you.

Bonus: Advanced SEO Tips and Tactics

Now that you’ve got the basics down, let us walk you through a handful of advanced SEO tips and techniques.

41. Optimize Your Site for User Experience Signals

Whether Google uses click-through rate, dwell time, and other user experience signals in its ranking algorithms has long been up for debate.

But there’s no doubt about it: optimizing your site for a higher click-through rate can bring you more traffic and generate more conversions.

And getting people to spend more time on your site is never a bad thing either.

If people don’t click through to your site, they won’t read your content or buy your products.

And the longer you can get people to stay around, the more chances you have to get them to convert.

Simple.

Optimize for click-through rate by:

• Using relevant, enticing titles
• Including a hook in your meta description
• Using schema markup to target rich snippets
• Optimizing your content for featured snippets

Optimize for higher time on page/dwell time by:

• Creating high-quality content that meets search intent
• Using short sentences and paragraphs to boost readability
• Including useful visuals to make your content more engaging
• Adding CTAs, internal links, and navigation menus to make your website easy to get around

42. Delete “Dead Weight” Pages

Google has said that a huge site with tons of pages can be bad for SEO.

To quote the Google rep (Gary Illyes):

This is why we make sure that every page on this site is super high-quality.

Despite the fact that this quality over quantity approach clearly works, we see A LOT of sites struggle with “dead weight” pages.

Pages like:

• Empty WordPress category and tag pages
• Outdated blog posts
• Duplicate content
• Low-quality blog posts
• Ecommerce product pages that generate zero sales
• Archive pages
• Thin content/boilerplate content
• Old services pages

And as you just saw, Google said that these Dead Weight pages can hurt your SEO efforts. So we recommend deleting them.

43. Update and Relaunch Outdated Content

Do you have old articles on your blog collecting dust?

If so, check this out:

We updated and relaunched this SEO copywriting post from the blog:

We improved the formatting, added more (better) content, included new screenshots, and more.

(Basically, we made the page MUCH better.)

Then, we relaunched it like it was a new post.

And that simple 1-2 punch increased search engine traffic to that page by 1,102.43%:

Do this with your own posts that aren’t performing well for some quick wins.

Put This SEO Checklist Into Action

Ready to take what you’ve learned above a step further?

Check out these guides on some of the most important aspects of any SEO strategy:

• Technical SEO: Learn how to master the most important technical elements of your website for higher rankings and more traffic.
• On-page SEO: Understand what it takes to optimize a page for search engines and users.
• Link building: Discover top strategies to take your SEO to the next level by building high-quality links.